Dormice

The dormouse is a nocturnal animal which lives and feeds up in the branches of trees and shiubs. so you are unlikely to see this delightful mammal. However, a national survey and work locally by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Exmoor Natural History Society has shown that Exmoor still has a good population of dormice despite the fact  that they have disappeared from half their range nationally in the last 100 years.

Dormice rely on ancient woods with their great variety of tree shrubs and plants. They feed on the nectar and pollen in flowers, nuts and berries and on insects. Hazel is an important source of nuts for fattening up. prior to winter hibernation, brambles also provide both flowers and fruit as well as a secure place among the thorns to make a nest. This is a bell of honeysuckle bark and leaves about the size of a grapefruit with no obvious entrance hole.

For hibernation, by contrast the nest is built at ground level in the base of a coppice stool or among tree roots. The animals are not very mobile but thick mixed hedges form important links between woods and some old bedges may provide a permanent home. Suitable woods and hedges are abundant on Exmoor, but they need careful management to ensure that dormice survive.

Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) A small mouse-sized squirrel like mammal with large eyes, rounded ears and short legs, found in trees and bushes where they feed on buds, fruit and nuts. Nocturnal and secretive they hibernate in winter often in hollow logs and are only rarely seen in summer in woodland copses and thick hedgerows.

Contributed by: Jim Noonan